Tag Archives: nail varnish

Nails of the week – blue with glitter flakes

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blue nails - Impala paparazzi and paz e amor - dani dutraFor my last manicure in Brazil, I chose blue. I am wearing two nail polishes from Impala: a lovely dark, slightly metallic navy blue called Paparazzi and a blue and green glitter flakes topcoat called Paz e Amor.

Alone, Paparazzi is a very pretty and shiny deep, dark navy blue. The topcoat effect is lovely and somewhat similar to the Andrea Fulerton Rain fall trio topcoat, the difference being the flakes on this polish change colour, whereas the ones on the Impala varnish are two different colours. The Impala polish also has a clearer base for the flakes.

This brand is very good; applications is always smooth and even, the finish is glossy and durability is great.

Today is my last post from Brazil – sadly, my holidays are over and I am heading to London tomorrow. This means I will go back to doing my own manicure again (you do get used to having them done!) and will start trying out my nail varnish haul, as well as some polishes I had bought before coming on holiday!

Nail polish haul

This is my Brazilian nail polish haul! I am taking home (from home!) a good selection of polishes, which will add around a kilo to my luggage!

nail polish haul- Brazil - Dani Dutra

I got some old time favourite brands, such as Colorama, Risqué and Impala but also bought some I hadn’t tried before, like Specialittá and Ana Hickmann.

From Colorama, I selected Luxo, 40 Graus and Tapete Vermelho, all classic reds, but decided to get different colours from the other brands.

I have Hermes (gold), Apolo (teal) and Atena (dark pink), which are great holographics, the duo chromes Marimoon Artsy (blue/purple/yellow) and Trendy (green/yellow) and Mica (metallic lilac) from Specialittá.

Ana Hickmann has a Star Collection with “special effects”, and I bought most of them : Trend (brown/gold/green) , Relux (forest green/purple), Reflex (purple/gold/green); all duo chrome and Glow (glitter flakes).

I chose Viúva Negra (black/red glitter), Besouro (green/purple) and Poção do Amor (metallic red, with a hint of golden fine glitter) from Risqué.

My choices from Impala were Paz e Amor (blue/ green glitter flakes), Na Mira 3D (dark holographic glitter) and Sex Appeal (red/orange duo chrome).

I also got a Nati metallic red called Confidente and a Big Universo Raio Gama glitter flakes topcoat.

On top of that, I got three base coats (two strenghtening ones), two extra shine topcoats and a clove oil to be applied before the base coat, to hydrate and strenghten the nail.

All nail polishes were priced between R$2,50 and R$7,99(£1 and £2.85). As I mentioned before, I find that Brazil has amazing value for good quality nail polish. It really amazes me!

I cannot wait to try them all – lots of exciting nails of the week posts coming soon!

Nails of the week – red with glitter flakes

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Happy new year everyone!

I have entered 2012 wearing red on my nails. On new year’s eve in Brazil, it is traditional to wear colours that correspond to things you wish for the year that will begin. Most people wear white, which means peace. I wore a gold dress (yellow/gold for money, but mainly because it’s pretty!), had white underwear, for peace, of course, and my nails were scarlet, for passion! Not a bad combo, eh?

Again, I am trying a brand never used before, Ana Hickmann nail polish in Balada and Glow topcoat with glittery flakes.

The red is bright, leaning towards orange. The topcoat is clear on its base, but laden with duochrome glitter flakes which are mainly golden, but change colour from copper to a greenish-yellow, just stunning!

It was applied by mine and my mum’s manicurist, Irma (a nail angel!), but the consistency was creamy and smooth, durability is also good as my nails still look  perfect!

Nails of the week – holographic teal

I am thoroughly enjoying my holiday, this “white Christmas” thing is not really for me! With temperatures averaging 30°, I have developed a great tan; add the intense socialising, and my posts have been sparse an irregular! I will return in full power after mid January – I promise!

This week I am wearing a pretty holographic teal nail polish from a Brazilian brand I hadn’t tried before: Specialittá Hits, and the colour is Apolo, from their “No Olimpo” range.

The holo effect is not too strong; it is stunning in the sun, very sparkly and multi coloured, but indoors, it is just a pretty metallic teal! For this reason, on the 6th day of wearing it, I have painted over with the gorgeous topcoat from Andrea Fulerton’s Rain Fall trio, with green glitter flakes, to give it a bit of oomph!

Once again, I didn’t apply myself, but it seemed to glide well. Its durability is very impressive: seven days and not a chip!!!

The price is, of course, as every Brazilian polish, great, although above the average: around R$ 8,00 (just under £3)!!!

Nails of the week – Holographic and black

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I am now in Brazil for holidays, and while I am having a break from doing my own manicure, I am still trying new shades. It is so exciting to be able to rediscover Brazilian brands, and explore the new colours. Also, prepare yourselves for short posts, as I cannot wait to run to the pool and work on my much needed tan!

This week I am wearing something quite similar to the Nails Inc. Electric Lane holographic topcoat – it is called Na Mira 3D, from Impala, and it is part of their Sao Paulo Fashion Week (SPFW) line.

Although it has the same purpose of the Nails Inc one, this beauty has a slightly darker colour, with great depth and a lovely iridescent pink tint to it. As soon as I looked at it, I knew it would look great on black (my manicurist applied Impala 501, Preto). It dazzles beautifully in the scorching Brazilian sun, but it is very hard to photograph! I really struggled, and the pictures, disappointingly, don´t really represent its prettiness! I am not sure if it can be considered holographic;   it just looks that way when in directly light. Perhaps, I would probably say its a glittery duochrome most of the time.

I didn´t apply it myself, but I know that Impala nail varnishes are easy to apply, gliding nicely on the nails. The texture is smooth and the duration is great (it does help it was applied by a professional!). I have a coat of black, one of the holo/glittery duo and a topcoat.

I am very happy with this, and I even have it on my toe nails. A friend bought me a bottle before I arrived, and I bought another one for good measure. I find nail varnishes very inexpensive in Brazil, this one being R$ 5,00 (£1.78). Bearing in mind this is a special edition polish and the normal colours cost between R$ 2,50 (£0.89) and R$ 3,50 (£1.25), it is great value indeed!

Check all the other Nails of the Week posts.

Nails of the week – magnetic blue

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17 Magnetic Nail polish in blue - Dani Dutra

Click to enlarge

I got over my disillusion with the Saturday’s magnetic nail varnish and decided to give the 17 Magnetized Nail polish a go. I  bought a few as gifts to friends in Brazil, and I intended to give them all away, but when I cast my eyes on the blue one, I found it so beautiful that I couldn’t let go.

Its colour is a pretty indigo blue and it differs from the other magnetic polishes because the dark colour that ripples has a little tinge of purple. This is very subtle and only visible sometimes. Still, I really liked it.

The brush is of satisfactory width and the polish has a good consistency, but can get a bit thick; you do need a generous second coat for the effect to look good.  Application was alright, not as good as the Nails Inc one, but not as bad as the Saturdays varnish – this really sums up this nail polish; something between the Nails Inc and the Fashionista one (although quite a way away from it, as the quality is much better!)

As per durability, it is quite good; it doesn’t chip easily, and this is a very important point for me.

Overall, I am quite happy with this; priced at £5.99 and coming with its own magnet, I believe it’s a good deal. And it is available in blue, purple, green and gunmetal. Pretty!

Check all the “Nails of the week” posts and find out the star rating for this and other polishes.

Nails of the week – purple/gold

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Kiko nail polish - Dani Dutra

This hasn’t been a good week for my nails; two days after doing my manicure, I broke a nail and had to cut them all short :(. Luckily, I had already taken the pictures for this week’s post!

I am trying a new brand this week, the Milanese brand Kiko. The have this quite impressive shop in Westfield Stratford City, with lovely make up and a huge range of varnishes.

Everytime I am there, I go in to take a look – I just cannot resist – and this time I picked up this varnish from a new range, Hologram Nail Lacquer. I chose number 354, a purple leaning towards dark mauve with very pretty gold and golden green shimmer. This polish is a duochrome, and although not as spectacular as the one I wore last week,  it is rather nice, and however subtle, you can definitely notice the colour variation.

It shimmers big time when it catches light, it is extremely glittery, but no flakes, so it has a smooth and shiny finish. Application was alright; the brush is  wide enough and the polish has a good consistency. However, it is rather sheer, one coat doesn’t do much, two is kinda ok but I needed three to realise its full potential – a little bit too much for me. It lasts well and doesn’t chip easily, and that’s a big plus for me.

Overall, I am not dazzled but pleased with my purchase, which wasn’t the cheapest around, at £5.90 a bottle (their other polishes, not from the Hologram line,  are priced at £4.90), but the quality is good and the shade pretty, and I must say I am looking forward to maybe trying make up items from Kiko Make up Milano!

Kino nail varnish - Dani Dutra

Nails of the week – teal/purple duochrome

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Petrol in water - Andrea Fulerton - Dani DutraPetrol in the water. Weird name, eh? Well, it is, but I can guarantee there is nothing weird about this nail colour.

After being very impressed with the durability of the Andrea Fulerton Trio nail varnish I wore a few weeks back (it didn’t chip, it survived the potato peeler and after seven days, it still looked so beautiful I felt bad to be removing it!), I decided to go crazy and bought three (!!!) other combinations.

I am, or course, wearing the aptly named Petrol in Water, and I cannot even describe how pretty it looks – three people, in one evening asked me what it was. It consists of a double ended polish with a dark metallic brown shade and an iridescent top coat.

I am truly in love – it will be very hard for any polish to beat this colour. The pictures don’t really do it any justice; with flash, the colour comes out as a dirty green-ish blue, but as the nails catch natural and  indoors light, they come alive and really remind me of that one drop of petrol in the water that triggers a multitude of shades…

This teal/purple duochrome with subtle green undertones looks stunning,  and depending on the light, it will be anything from peacock green/teal/indigo blue to purple. It has the most amazing colours, and it is very sparkly, without having glitter on it, so no rough texture.

Petrol in water by Andrea Fulerton - Dani Dutra

Now, I wasn’t that keen on the application, as this was a similar experience to that with my other trio, Rainfall – still find the double ended brush a bit clunky, not wide enough, the darker colour is a bit thin, so coverage is not great and the drying time was a bit too long. Normally, this would put me off right away, but for this shade it was well worth it!

I really cannot wait to try the other two, but I think it will be very hard for a polish to top this one… Beautiful!

Another weekend and another nail varnish binge – I acquired another three… now have them, together with another good half a dozen, lined up for the next weeks. I really must organise myself, as I am going away for a month over Christmas, will have to take the fabulous shades to be applied while on holidays!

Nails of the week – holographic

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About a month ago, I was quite upset to find out (two years too late!) I completely missed Gosh’s holographic nail polish, so I went on a quest to source it. After seeing it going on eBay for quite a lot of money (some in excess of £20 with p&p), I decided to look for an alternative.

I found Color Club Worth the Risque, which seemed very lovely and with good reviews, and that’s what I am wearing this week. This polish is a silver holographic, with amazing rainbow shine, and plenty of sparkle.

Having never used a holo nail polish before, only a topcoat; I was very surprised at the coverage. This varnish is quite thick, so just one coat would definitely be ok, but I opted for two.

The colour is stunning and solid; a pretty muted silver indoors (sometimes you can see the rainbow effect, but not always), medium to fine grain glitter but smooth, however, the beauty of this polish lays when it catches the light, it is truly mesmerising, with amazing depth. It seems to be chip resistant, but it has two minor cons: it seems to scratch quite easily, and it hasn’t got a fast drying time, making it quite easy for you to mess up after application.

Apart from that, I am very pleased with it. It doesn’t seem to be as pretty as some pictures of the Gosh one I have seen around the internet, but I really like it! I was a bit worried as I tend not to wear light shades on my nails, but this is rather beautiful!

Have you tries holographic nail varnish before? What are your favourites?

Once again I went crazy on nail polishes, buying a couple from Sephora last weekend in Paris and three (you heard it – THREE) Andrea Fulerton Trios, which I will be trying on soon!

Nails of the week – magnetic red

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Magnetic metallic red nailsI fell in love with magnetic polishes after trying the Nails Inc. version, and as it is so pretty and an easy way to achieve a different effect on your nails, I decided to try other brands, and see how they fare.

This week, I am wearing the Saturdays Magnetism Nail Lacquer by Fashionista: Rochelle, stocked by Superdrug.  This is the only brand I could find that offers a red hue, and I could not wait to try it.

It was quite hard to find, I visited three or four branches with no success. I decided to buy online, and was very happy to find out  Superdrug offers free delivery!

My relationship with the polish started badly, when I found out it doesn’t come with a magnet. Surely, if it is a magnetic polish, it needs a magnet, but for this one, you are expected to fork out an extra £3 on top of the £6 retail price to achieve the effect. Not impressed. If they had many different patterns, I would maybe consider buying one, but the only magnet on the site is the “wave pattern” – incidentally, the one all the other brands give with each bottle of their polish, so as I bought the Nails Inc. and the Boots 17 varnishes,  I just re-used one of the magnets on this polish.

Application wasn’t great. The polish is quite thick, so coverage is good. But you need a lot, I mean an *awful lot* of varnish on the second coat for the effect to work well.  I had to re-apply six of my ten nails, which never happened to me before, not even with white nail polish. If I didn’t lather it on, the waves were weak, either failing to appear, with gaps and irregular, just messy. I also noticed i had to move the magnet from side to side, so the effect would happen on the whole nail and not just the centre. Got there in the end, and I must confess I *love* the colour, and of course, the effect. It has average drying time, and it sets smooth and shiny.

And that is pretty much what I liked about his polish. It chips badly, and quickly. After two days, there were numerous chips on several nails. I had to remove and re-apply on FIVE nails, only three days after applying, as they were so bad I couldn’t bear looking at them. This never happened to me before, even with the cheapest of nail polishes.

Overall, I am quite disappointed, and I will not be buying any more Fashionista nail polishes in the future, Saturdays range or not. It seems that the celebrity endorsement is once again an excuse for a less than satisfactory product, and I am actually paying for the Saturday’s faces on the box. Nothing personal against them, but no thanks.

I am still to try to Boots 17 Magnetized Nail Polish, but a friend of mine who bought the green one told me it lasts well. Fingers crossed!